Are we eating SMART?

Somewhere in the brain, a complex series of chemical actions and reactions is triggered off the moment we taste our first morsel. It is not clear whether the resulting circuit conditions us later to send clear messages like "grandmother's cooking is good" or "dark chocolate is bad", but what follows defines us for life. Truth is, food can be a cerebral love-hate relationship. In India, food is more than just a life-long affair. It is a marriage perfected by mixing, matching, adjusting and adapting. It is a way of life that sends us sensory messages, telling us about seasons and occasions. We dance to food, we pray to food, and we have often been a country divided, or united, over food.

North Indian fest

Food and the culture of eating have always been vital in India. Traditional diets, with years of trial and error to suit climatic and social conditions, combined with the goodness of home cooking, were what we swore by initially. However, contemporary changes in work and lifestyle patterns, urban sprawl and globalised tastes have changed all that. A food conundrum is emerging. And it's easy to feel like a ping-pong ball, batted in one direction and then another. We are increasingly becoming suspicious of our foods, as we are getting more information. To cap it all, the diet demon has been unleashed on us.

North Indian fest: Although mostly vegetarian, dieticians prefer this thali for its right mix of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, calcium and iron. A common accompaniment to most Indian meals are pulses or lentils-both valuable for their high protein content.

"With the erosion of traditional family patterns and eating practices, the biggest casualty has been food," says Delhi-based nutritionist Ishii Khosla. "We are eating far more calories from poor sources-fat of inferior quality (trans-fats)-more sugar, refined carbohydrates, more meat, preservatives and chemicals. Correspondingly, the intake of fibre, protective foods, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals has dipped to dangerously low levels," she elaborates.

But that is exactly the kind of knowledge that has led to a national eating crisis. We are not asking simple questions like "Am I overeating or should I skip breakfast?" Our enquiries have become more specific, to the point where we are questioning every micronutrient that constitutes a spoonful. At the same time, post-industrial Indians have become an overfed, sedentary lot.

Consider this: we have every fourth diabetic in the world, while every sixth person who dies is an Indian. By 2010, we will constitute 60 per cent of the world's population which will suffer from heart attack. Around 2,000 people die of stroke everyday. These statistics, indeed, are a premonition of what is to come. However, to go back to where we were, humans have been programmed for ages to eat and eat, simply because in our hunting days, food was scarce.

Bangla ranna: Most of the dishes are prepared in mustard oil, which-according to a recent study- is considered one of the best cooking mediums. This traditional meal includes fish, which is required by the body for growth of lean muscle tissue.

India has been through its own share of famines and rationing. We have lived through massive changes in our dishes through the years. The Mughal rulers never tasted Mulligatawny soup, and the Aryans died without knowing what biryani was. Our so-called traditional thali underwent a major makeover over the last few thousand years and the very definition of it varied every 50 km or so. To someone from Jaipur, a south Indian meal strictly constituted a series of sour curries and curd, while a Bengali didn't really care a nickel for the fluffy yellow dhokla that Gujaratis craved for. But no matter where you went in India, a meal comprised a cereal, vegetables, dairy and animal protein, chutney and a perfect sweet dish to top it all. What we had perfected was a habit. We had become slaves to that routine: lunch was a happy family affair usually followed by a siesta, and dinner was taken before sundown. Our modern lifestyles have thrown all that luxury for a toss.

Marathi platter: Includes yogurt. When compared to milk, it contains more calcium and protein. It contains a good amount of phosphorus and 80 per cent water.

Mealtimes have shrunk. The kitchen is no longer our biggest activity area. "Rapid transformation in the lifestyle of Indians, particularly those living in urban India, has resulted in a dramatic increase in the consumption of fast food and ready-to-eat meals. The main reason for this is convenience," says Veena Aggarwal, vice-president of VLCC. In urban India, where time is more important than money, it's tough to return from office and put the hours into cooking that a typical Indian meal demands. Also, with disposable income going up, young Indians do not mind shelling a few extra bucks to buy packaged food.

Indian lifestyle is undergoing a massive socio-economic change, which is also being reflected in the food habits of middle-class Indians. Take this: IT executive in Mumbai Sushmita Bhowmick says she cooks one meal a day. She puts in 60 hours at work in a week, and her only indulgence in the kitchen is a combination of vegetables that she cooks for a mid-morning snack. Later during the day, she lives on fast food that does no value addition to her healthy diet. Not that she doesn't like cooking, but with a demanding job to cope up with, she has almost shunned the painstaking job of chopping and mixing the right ingredients.

Gujarati thali: A meal rich in pulses, which contain around 20-25 per cent more protein than eggs, fish or flesh. Also, it comprises green vegetables, yogurt and dairy products.

This year's edition of the National Sample Survey gives out some interesting results. Eating leafy green vegetables is becoming increasingly common in urban India as the survey showed a jump of 12 per cent in the last decade. While the consumption of chicken has risen from 9 per cent to 27 per cent in city households, egg consumption has gone up in both urban and rural India. The survey showed a 30 per cent increase in the consumption of cooking oil, although the intake of vanaspati oil is down from 40 per cent to 21 per cent in the cities.

According to nutrition expert Dr B. Sivakumar, these surveys are useful in documenting the percentage increase in monthly intake, but they don't really give out the big picture. While he agrees that certain shifts have taken place-people prefer polished grains over coarse grains-he says there are a lot of factors to be considered before labelling something as 'harmful' or 'good for health'. "Any food, considered healthy, cooked in a particular medium and in a particular way, can be harmful if prepared in a different way," he elaborates.

63% Indians still use unrefined oil as a cooking medium.

Experts agree that it is often not what we eat, but how we eat, that determines our health. Our busy lives have made dinner the biggest meal of the day. Sivakumar elaborates, "Dinner should be light. It gives more blood sugar and energy at a time when the body is resting and physically inactive. There may be inadequate nutrients during the day when the body badly needs them for mental and physical work." In fact it explains why we often feel lethargic in the morning. The other devil could be our new communications devices. Be it the television or the cell phone, there should be no distraction while eating. "Sit comfortably in a pleasant atmosphere and concentrate on food alone," advises ayurvedic medicine expert Dr Preeti Chhabra.

In India, it is difficult to determine what is healthy to eat as there is a plethora of choices. If the Atkins diet tells us to ban cereals, the GM diet proposes the opposite and asks us to live on bananas and milk for a day. And for those of you who are looking for the perfect diet to stay healthy, here is what a new research has to say. Diets do not mean much. The research conducted by scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, says, no matter how much weight you lose by dieting, it will always come back. And to make matters worse, when the weight comes back, it's likely to be a few kilos more than what it was. "Since most fad diets are very low on calories, they cause fast weight loss. That, however, may not be healthy and-in most cases-is not fat loss. It is usually water-loss, which is quickly regained when the dieter resumes normal eating," says Aggarwal. "We never really understood the concept of calories. Roti and aloo subzi meant a filling, yet low-calorie meal, but the same ingredients used to make samosas translated into fat," says Mita Shukla, chief dietician with Wockhardt Hospitals in Kolkata. The only way out, she explains, "is to listen to experts you can trust".

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has set guidelines on how much you should consume if you want to remain healthy and not gain weight. Sedentary workers are recommended 20-25 Cals per kg of body weight in a day, moderately active people require 26-30 Cals and strenuous workers 31-35. The guidelines say that a deficit of 7,500 Cals will produce a weight loss of approximately a kilo. A simple calculation of calories could help as well. According to WHO, overweight and obese people shouldn't eat more than 20 Cals per kg in a day, while people who aren't overweight should limit it to 30. Underweight people should indulge in around 40 Cals. Scientists are now recommending the polymeal as a healthy option to check cardiovascular diseases. It is a safer, healthier and tastier option than the polypill (a wonder pill that promised to slash the risk of heart attacks and strokes by 80 per cent). According to an article in the British Medical Journal, the polymeal not only reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases by 76 per cent, it also increases life expectancy in men and women by 6.6 and 4.8 per cent, respectively. The polymeal is an evidence-based menu that includes wine (150 ml per day), fish (114 gm four times a week), dark chocolate (100 gm per day), fruits and vegetables (400 gm a day), garlic (2.7 gm per day) and almonds (68 gm a day). Ramesh Javvaji, executive chef of ITC Hotel The Sonar in Kolkata, says that we can, to some extent, take pointers from the polymeal to suit Indian diets, but again, we have to keep in mind that everything is not adaptable.

27% households in urban India now eat chicken.

Although there are too many diets and dieticians in the market, experts agree that there is scope for improvement even in traditional diets. Nothing is sacrosanct in any particular diet. "Science does not stay in one particular place," says Shukla. "In college I was taught that mustard oil is heavy on stomach. Now, a new research tells me I should prescribe mustard oil," she says. That only goes on to prove the point that even traditional foods can evolve. It is absolutely true. How else would the circuit in our brain go on programming itself life-long? And decide whether the chocolate-endorsing polymeal is better than grandma's cooking?

Mita ShuklaDietician, KolkataWhat she eats:Breakfast: Chapatti and subzi, or boiled rice and dal. A bowl of curd is a must.Mid-morning: A seasonal fruit. Lunch: A very small portion of rice, fish and vegetable.Evening: A cup of tea with puffed rice or fried dal.Dinner: An early one, with rice, dal, one vegetable and fish.Her tipsEat one fruit every day, especially after lunch, for better iron absorption.

Veena AggarwalNutritionist, DelhiWhat she eats:Breakfast: Besan or sprouted moong dal chilla.Lunch: Salad and chapatti. For an elaborate fare, boiled brown rice, seasonal vegetables, a protein-rich curry and curd or raita.Dinner: Same as lunch. Add a soup, salad, whole wheat or multi grain bread, a sauteed mixed vegetable and fruit yogurt.Her tipsHave four-five meals a day. Include fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamins and antioxidants.

Preeti ChhabraNutritionist, DelhiWhat she eats:Breakfast: Like a king. Splurge on a variety of nutritionally rich food.Lunch: Like a commoner. Be a little conscious while eating.Dinner: Like a pauper. Make it so meagre that it doesn't tax the digestive system when the body is at rest during sleep.Her tipsEat only when you are hungry, i.e., only when the previous meal is digested. Food should be warm and unctuous. One should eat to one's half capacity.

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